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The Dog (Clash)
The Dog is an unlockable playable character in Super Smash Bros. Clash. He's the infamous laughing dog of Duck Hunt, who'd laugh at the player when they missed a duck. He's become absolutely despised by basically the entire gaming community, a major reason for him being in is to serve as a punching bag. Nobody knows how and why The Dog entered the Dark Tournament. The Dog is also partially a joke character, being used to severely put shame to an opponent for losing to him. However, The Dog can play a decent combination of defense and offense when you take it's mobility into account. It also has a few... interesting, match-ups that can make it lethal. The Dog is one of the two current Mewtwo counters and goes 50-50 with Captain Falcon, although his other match-ups are a mixed bag to the point of solidifying his mid-tier status despite such amazing results against top tiers. He's currently locked at 13th, at least as of November 25. Means of Unlocking Pros & Cons The Dog is a very awkward character who has some pretty weird, but versatile moves. The Dog has lots of tools designed to stomp over very specific characters, but they fall against some others. The Dog is also a good character for fighting game players new to Super Smash Bros. to start with, as a lot of his moves take advantage of the game's engine and introduce players to the new mechanics like launching and comboing off techs / knockdowns. The Dog's versatility is something to be hold. It's very unpredictable, being able to play a good offensive or defensive game, or even both. The Dog is also known for it's very interesting set of match-ups: It's a fairly decent counter-pick to Mewtwo or Captain Falcon, even at high-level play. The Dog can also use it's taunts to fill up it's Clash Attack and Super Smash Meters, a trait no other character has. The Dog's moves usually have at least one major negative property. Most of them have one of bad damage, bad combo-ability, bad priority, bad range, speed, or some combination, which can really limit their use in some matches. The Dog is also a bit lighter than the other fighters, dying easily. His Final Smashes are also very difficult to land outside of combos. (although, in those, it's easy) The Dog is a lower-mid tier character, although still decent in the right hands. It feels awkward, sure, but as you play with him more and more you'll start to get what he's capable of. Pros *Very versatile, lots of ways to deal with given situations. *Good mobility and speed. *Decent approach options. *Good combo options. *His Great Laughter is not only a great mockery, but a very powerful combo tool. *Good match-ups against top and high tier characters, especially the very top. *Good character for players to learn the game engine with. *Light and floaty; a little harder to combo than other low-armor characters. Cons *Moveset is very awkward and inconsistent, both in terms of use and properties. *Grabs have limited use. *Requires a constant storage of Clash Attack Meter to do a long list of tasks. *Ground normals aren't very good. *Has some problems landing knockouts outside of combos. *Limited ways of keeping grapplers out of dominant range. *Dies very quickly veritcally due to said lightness and floatiness. *Difficult to use in high-level play because of the very specific playstyles needed for each match-up. Moveset Ground Moves Normals *Neutral Attack: The Dog does a right paw scrape, a head scrape, and then a horse kick. After the horse kick, you can press Attack to get another horse kick with high knockback, but it is not a guarantee to combo. This move has good priority and range, making an alright way to start up combos. Neither horse kick is safe on block, so be careful with this. **Damage: 3-3-6 / 12% + 7% *Side Strong Attack: The Dog flips over and does a scissor kick. Vaguely similar to M. Bison's moves, but seems more like a back flip followed by a flip kick. Hits twice. Does good shieldstun and hitstun, making it great for combos and ending blockstrings. Great range, but the priority isn't good. Safe when done close, but a few characters can punish it from far away or on whiff. **Damage: 5-5 / 10% *Up Strong Attack: The Dog stands on it's front paws and aims it's left leg upward. Decent anti-air, as the priority and range are decent. A major note with this move is that it will actually beat a lot of high-priority aerials like Mewtwo's Nair or Captain Falcon's Uair, making it a decent stuff move. If done close, is a Launcher so this also makes for good combo use. **Damage: 9% *Down Strong Attack: The Dog slides along the ground, front paws first. Hits and needs to be blocked low, and if it hits, will score a knockdown and from there you can start a OTG combo with prediction and timing, a trait very few Down Strongs have. This goes REALLY low; you can slide under a huge deal of projectiles with this. Range is terrific, but the priority on this move is absolutely awful. **Damage: 7% *Dash Attack: The Dog hops a fair distance and does a jump kick. A decent move to Dash attack cancel out of to get your Up Smash to hit VERY high. This will go over quite a few low attacks and some projectiles, but again, be aware of the awful priority. Must be blocked high. On hit, you can usually cancel into a Hound Rush for more damage. **Damage: 7% Smash Attacks *Side Smash Attack: The Dog does about 6 punching attacks with it's stretchy ears. This starts up slow, ends slowly and has eh priority, but it has an absolute TON of range and hits OTG; combos off Down Strong easily. Does great damage too. A little weak, though, KOing Mario at 99% charged and 130% uncharged. **Damage: 2-2-3-2-3-7 / 17% (uncharged), 3-3-4-3-3-10 / 26% (charged) *Up Smash Attack: The Dog does a flip kick. Very high priority and also functions as a Launcher, but unlike the Up Strong one this will only launch airborne opponents. If it misses or gets perfect shielded (but not normal shielded), The Dog falls on it's back and is suspect to major punishment. Due to that, this move is rather risky to use as an anti-air. Will hit OTG, and also scores nice knockback but low damage. Also starts a little slow. **Damage: 12% (uncharged), 17% (charged) *Down Smash Attack: The Dog gets in a stood-up crouching position (if you have a real dog, you know what I mean. Needs a better description) and holds one leg up. Awful range and only hits in front of The Dog, also has terrible priority, does terrible damage and very low knockback. The plus? HUGE hitstun, and auto-combos into your Up Smash. (which will launch after doing this beforehand) Can also combo into Final Smash 2 and Doggy-Copter. At first it seems useless, but at high level play, you'll be spending all match looking for some way to get this landed. Real mixed bag of a move. **Damage: 8% (uncharged), 12% (charged) Aerial Moves *Neutral Aerial: The Dog flips itself upside down and spins around like a helicopter. Will only hit once, despite what you'd think. Has high priority and covers a wide area of space. Also decent inside of and to start of combos, as the knockback isn't great. Ending lag is absolutely awful, and so is the landing lag: The latter is just slightly shorter than Waluigi's Nair. Mostly a good move, but be careful. **Damage: 10% *Forward Aerial: The Dog claps with it's ears. Very high priority up-close, but very high ending and landing lag. Decent damage and knockback, starts fairly fast too. Not too bad, but be careful when using outside of a combo. Must be blocked high. **Damage: 10% *Back Aerial: The Dog lies down in the air and does a backwards drop kick, like Snake's Bair. Great range, but starts and ends a little slow. Priority is average, but the damage and knockback are great. Must be blocked high. **Damage: 13% *Up Aerial: The Dog does a circle hit that hits 4 times. Excellent in juggles as it's very fast and does a ton of damage. Priority isn't too good, although this another move that will beat absolutely random stuff like Mewtwo's Nair and even Funky's Sonic Kick. Range is great. **Damage: 4-4-4-6 / 18% *Down Aerial: The Dog does a body splash. Decent priority, great knockback, good damage. very small hitbox despite the appearance. Overall limited use for this. Must be blocked high. **Damage: 11% Grabs and Throws *Grab: The Dog tries bite with it's jaws. The Dog has a terrible pivot grab, but a decent dash grab, and the normal grab has good range. *Pummel: The Dog chews on the opponent. Slow. **Damage: 2% *Forward Throw: The Dog throws the foe out of it's mouth forward. Decent knockback. **Damage: 9% *Back Throw: The Dog bends back and drops the foe backward. Decent knockback. **Damage: 9% *Up Throw: The Dog throws the foe out of it's mouth upwards. Decent knockback. You knew that was coming a third time. **Damage: 8% *Down Throw: The Dog spits the foe onto the ground. A decent tech chase, although not as good of one as Sonic's or even Kyle Hyde's. **Damage: 6% *Air Throw: The Dog bites the foe and throws them downward. The Dog has good aerial grab range, so you may want to look into this. **Damage: 8% Special and Super Moves Standard Special Move: Throw a Bone The Dog takes out a bone from somewhere and pauses for a moment. After angling the path with the control stick, The Dog throws the bone. The bone travels about half of Final Destination distance, and when put in place, spins for about two seconds. This move is a decent trap and can be used to control space, something The Dog is pretty terrible with. Also a decent anti-air. Very difficult to use in combos, but if you land it you can usually follow up with a Doggy-Copter or something. As with all "trap" moves, be unpredictable of where and when you throw your bones. This can be a really good move in some match-ups, like Captain Falcon. Also, a major note of this is that you can NOT teleport through bones. It's great for stopping offensive pressure from Mewtwo and Kyle Hyde, as well as others with teleports. This attack does 8 hits worth 1-1-2-2-1-1-2-2, for a total of 12%. If blocked, the 2% hits each do 1% chip damage, up to 4%. Side Special Move: Hound Rush The Dog crouches, then rushes with it's head for half of Final Destination distance. The aerial version travels slighty less, but can be angled slightly up or down. This move starts FAST; 8 frames of start-up. Also travels quickly, taking about 11 frames to travel full distance. This is your primary move to end combos with, as the damage and knockback are good. You can also combo it into your super really easily. This move is mostly safe on block, although it does leave you at -4 frame advantage most of the time so a few characters can punish it. (namely, command grabbers) When blocked or hit, The Dog bounces off the foe and rolls back. This attack does 15%. If blocked, it does 3%. Up Special Move: Doggy-Copter The Dog crouches (or falls downward slightly, if this is done in the air) and then jumps up sideways while doing a bunch of helicopter kicks. Travels about the same distance as Aether, both vertically and horizontally. You can also angle this move downward, where it must then be blocked high. The vertical version is one of The Dog's most reliable anti-airs as it does incredible damage and has pretty good priority, but unlike most of The Dog's other weird priority moves, this DOES lose to the typical stuff like Mewtwo's Nair, Ganondorf's Stomp, etc. Leaves you helpless if done from the ground so you basically forced to Clash Cancel if this move is dodged. Works well in combos and the downward air version is great for applying pressure and starting combos as the landing lag is minimal, though. Also decent for recovery. This attack does 11 hits worth 1-2-2-2-2-2-1-2-2-4, for a total of 17%. The final hit will deal 1% chip damage. Down Special Move: Coward Crouch The Dog crouches with it's front paws on it's head. If anyone hits The Dog during this, he'll grab the foe with one of his ears and yell in dog barks what roughly translates to "The things I do for love aren't pretty". The Dog slams the foe onto the ground a few times back and forth, eventually letting them loose with a swing. This is The Dog's counter move. It has a long amount of active frames (although only the early frames can counter projectile) and does big damage; 1.35x the amount of damage the move would've dealt and slightly increased knockback. Probably the best regular counter in the game. Clash Attack 1: Hyper Hound Rush *Uses 1 bar of The Dog's Clash Attack Meter *Done with Down, Down Forward, Forward, Down, Down Forward, Forward + Special + Attack. The Dog crouches, then rushes forward with it's head. When it either hits or reaches max distance, he'll do another headbutt. This is basically your Side Special done twice. Powerful, and very easy to combo into: Basically you can cancel this from a normal Hound Rush anytime that gets landed. Most of the other properties are also like that move, although this is much less safe on block. This attack does 2 hits worth 10-20%, for a total of 30%. This attack does 2-4%, for a total of 6%, in chip damage. Clash Attack 2: Great Laughter *Uses 3 bars of The Dog's Clash Attack Meter. Seriously. *Done with Down, Down Forward, Forward + Any Taunt Button. The Dog goes into a bunch of poses, laughing in all of them. Lasts for about 10 seconds. If you can get the entire move done without interruption, you get a bonus that's worth 1 point. The most satisfying thing to do in a match, any match, is to get the whole thing landed. It's just so humiliating; it really strikes a sense of cold into your foe's heart. There is an actual use for this though. This is the only move in the game that can be canceled into your Final Smashes. (the hyper flash gives you enough time to charge for a Final Smash) This means you can cancel an attack into this, and then cancel this into a Final Smash, and it will combo. Think of it like Dan's Super Taunt in the Street Fighter IV games, really. Also, if the game ends with this move being done, the game will continue until the move is done, even if The Dog is the only character standing. Final Smash 1: Skull Breaker Rush *Requires at least half his Super Smash Meter to be filled. *Done by holding Back for two seconds, then tapping Forward + Special + Attack. The Dog crouches, and then rushes forward with it's head. Sounds familiar, right? But wait! If that connects, the foe is launched into the center of the air, where The Dog attacks with a series of ear punches followed up by being slammed into the ground with a huge explosion. The explosion can hit other opponents. Yeah. This is a very strong Final Smash, and can be comboed into easily from a Clash Canceled Doggy-Copter / Hound Rush or the Great Laughter. Has a little lower priority than your other Hound Rushes, and The Dog flips over on block making him very vulnerable. Very difficult and risky to use outside of a combo, due to those two reasons. The first part of this does 14-20, and the explosion does 61-85%, each depending on how much the Super Smash Meter was filled. If the intial hit is blocked, does 1% chip. Explosion does 12-17% in chip. Final Smash 2: Duck Season? Smasher Season! *Requires at least half of Super Smash Meter to be filled. *Done by holding Down for two seconds, then tapping Up + Special + Attack. When this is activated, ducks start to appear from the bottom of the stage and start flying. The Dog hops onto one of them and orders all of the ducks to start firing fireballs onto the stage, one at a time. Yeah. Super Smash Meter filling determines how many ducks appear. 25 ducks appear at minimum meter, 36 at maximum meter. Each duck fires 2 shots before going away. This is a very awkward Final Smash. The ducks are completely random as far as fire rate and when they fire goes. Think of it like PK Starstorm moves Lucas and Ness had in Brawl; dodging it can be difficult since the fireballs are fairly large and are fired with little breathing room. Each fire shot does 7%. If they combo, they do 10%, 13%, 16%, 19%, etc. Each fire shot does 1% in chip damage. Other Taunts and Victory Poses *Note: The Dog's taunts will add energy to it's Clash Attack Meter and it's Super Smash Meter, a trait exclusive to The Dog. (for the Super Smash Meter, anyway. Luigi can also fill his Clash Attack Meter with taunts) The Dog can also use it's Down Taunt in matches with Taunting set to off. *Up Taunt: The Dog does the laugh. You know the one. *Side Taunt: The Dog stands on two legs and points at the foe, barking. *Down Taunt: The Dog starts to break down from laughter and pounds a fist onto the ground. The fist does 2% and is an extremely powerful spike. *Air Taunt: Yes, The Dog can taunt in the air. He'll chuckle for about 20 frames. This doesn't have any landing lag. On-screen appearance In The Dark Tournament: Adventure Mode Competitive Tactics and Advice Match-ups Advanced techniques Costume Colors Trophies and Profile information Challenge Wall rewards Trivia *The original Coward Crouch was basically a direct rip of Blanka's move from Street Fighter IV: A very, VERY low crouch that avoids a ton of attacks and almost all projectiles. Seeing how The Dog has a few anti-projectile normals, the move was changed into what it is now. External links Category: Characters (Clash) Category: Duck Hunt universe